


Waiting Words

by tatooedlaura



Series: Life, Part 3 [21]
Category: The X-Files
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-24
Updated: 2018-03-24
Packaged: 2019-04-07 10:24:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,594
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14078847
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tatooedlaura/pseuds/tatooedlaura
Summary: Skinner has a talk with Scully in the kitchen ...





	Waiting Words

Waking up slowly, his eyes dry, lips cracked, muscles aching, bruises tender, he found himself alone, staring at his weapon across the bed, sitting quietly on Maggie’s bedside table.

He had last seen his weapon before he was taken, safely tucked away in the closet, under lock, key and code. The night before, day before, whenever before, Maggie had helped him upstairs, gotten him into soft t-shirt, softer flannel, cradled in mattress and feathered down before kissing him, telling him she’d be back just as soon as she checked on the others. He’d been asleep in seconds, comforted more than he would ever admit out loud that Mulder and Scully were downstairs somewhere, available for a fight if the necessity arose. Now, however, he was awake and staring down the barrel of a gun Maggie had felt the need to place beside her in the night.

Not beside him but her.

If he wanted to, he could analyze that, debate whether it was next to her for fear he’d shoot her if she woke him up from sleep with a hand on his arm or a mumbled word, send him spiraling back to black plastic bag over head, wooden bat to back, cement meeting skull or if it was next to her because she would use it to defend him if and when another decided to invade her quiet life, her fiercely loved family.

Or he could stand, move, shower, eat, drink, ignore.

Instead he asked her quietly, when she walked back in a few moments later, holding a cup of steaming tea, “do you know how to use it?”

Setting tea beside gun, comfort and fear hand in hand on polished oak, “I do but since Bill died, I haven’t practiced.”

“We’ll do that soon but then I’d prefer to sleep with the gun in the drawer, my side or yours, doesn’t matter.” Moving closer, Maggie examined a cut, studied a still darkening bruise, laced her fingers against the back of his neck, while his gaze moved from tilted neck to warmer eyes, taking in all features between, “Maggie.”

She could see him ignoring all pain, not flinching at her touch against his already aching bones, “Walter.”

It was on the tip of his tongue, the words waiting to have life breathed in them, to cross the gap, change the world, alter the universe, but they remained quiet, knowing there was something he had to do before anything could happen, “should we go wake up the kids and have some breakfast?”

She felt it in the air between them and liking the unspoken for the moment, surrounded by it, she took his hand, “it’s actually time for dinner and Fox will love that you called them ‘the kids’.”

Holding out a hand to her, “help me up?”

“Of course.”

&&&&&&&&&&&

Scully woke to find Mulder’s hand splayed across her belly, tapping gently on her skin, and smiling, she turned her head to find him with his eyes closed but a small smile on his face, “are you Morse coding ‘I love you’?”

The happy grin grew larger, “I love that you know that.”

“Is it for the kid or me?”

“Yes.”

“Well, I love you back but he’s not going to answer for a little while. Morse code doesn’t kick in until the third trimester.” Scully kissed his nose then slid from the bed, “come on, let’s go find some breakfast.”

Mulder corrected her as he followed, “dinner. It’s after 9.”

“Same day?”

“Who the hell knows.”

Heading to the kitchen, Mulder stopped dead in his tracks and Scully, being short and still waking up, ran directly into him, knocking her nose into his back and her hard lump of belly into his butt. “Hey.”

Mulder whispered over his shoulder, “your mom and Skinner are making out by the kitchen counter. Don’t look! Don’t look!”

“Mulder …” Skinner’s voice carried to Scully’s still hidden ears, “we are not making out. I am drinking a cup of tea and Maggie is upstairs looking for her slippers.”

“You could have been making out and one day probably will be making out and I just want to prepare.”

Scully smacked his arm as she rubbed her nose, her voice muffled, “why don’t you prepare next time when I’m not behind you. I smashed my face.”

Turning, he pulled her forward, kissing the top of her head before drifting down to hold her hand, “sorry. Didn’t mean to squish you.”

“I’ll forgive you.”

“Thanks.”

Skinner, accepting their insanity long before this, didn’t even flinch, “anyone hungry? We were about to wake you up to help us solve the hot button debate of hot dogs or macaroni and cheese.”

Scully, finally seeing his face, gravitated towards him, doctor hands reaching for injured flesh, fingers tilting his head for a better look at multiple cuts and egg-sized lumps, “how did you sleep? Do you need anything for pain? Any nightmares?”

Mulder came over, removing her still probing hands but waiting for the answers, staring intently until Skinner finally responded, the back of his mind amusingly contemplating the rest of his life with Doctor Cold Fingers and Spooky Mulder while he told them, “I slept okay but not great. I took two Tylenol before I came downstairs and as for nightmares, nothing I can’t handle. Now, leave it alone for awhile, okay?”

Said with more love than irritation, Scully gave him a smile, “I vote Mac and Cheese and how many boxes should I make?”

Maggie, slippers now securely on feet, walked soundlessly into the kitchen, “at least four.”

“Are Frohike and company gone?”

“Yeah. They folded their blankets and left me a note saying thank you and asked to have a security meeting with me at my earliest possibly convenience.” Handing the paper to Mulder as she walked by, “why do I need to have a security meeting with Melvin?”

The rest of them in instant agreement that some cameras, better locks and maybe a bullet proof bubble over the house were fine, upstanding ideas, Scully spoke first, “because the world isn’t the nicest of places and for better or worse, you are now unequivocally associated with three individuals who seem to attract an awful lot of unpleasantness.”

“I don’t want to be a prisoner in my own home, Dana.”

“Maggie,” Mulder reached out to her, holding her arm lightly, “the boys are the best at what they do. You’ll never even know your house is safer than Fort Knox, I promise. The only things you will see are three or four sensors in unobtrusive corners, if you look hard.”

She looked like she wanted to believe him but doubt remained, however slight, a sigh of resignation coming out after a few moments, knowing she couldn’t and probably shouldn’t fight the combined efforts of the three of them, “I’ll talk with them but no guarantees right now.”

Walter relaxed slightly, his muscles tight for too long during the last three minutes, “that’s all we ask.”

&&&&&&&&&&&

It was while Scully dried and Skinner washed, having insisted that he needed to move to keep his muscles loose, “Scully? May I ask you something?”

“Yes, Walter, you may ask me something.”

Feeling an oddly paternal need to flick water on her, he refrained, “what would your honest reaction be if I asked your mother to marry me?”

To be fair, the bowl in her hand was very slippery, the metal smooth, the fingers forgetful of how to grip. It clattered to the ground, Scully doing her half-second behind best to catch it and the thing, instead of being captured, flew across the room as knuckle hit metal, metal hit floor, floor unforgiving, linoleum slick.

Both watched the bowl finally come to a halt in the hall, the clanging echoing a moment longer, before Skinner looked down at his agent, “that tells me a lot.”

Retrieving the bowl in silence, she came back to the sink, Walter unmoving but curious as she picked up her dishtowel once again before, “that doesn’t count in my answer. You dropped a bomb, I’m allowed to have butter fingers for a few seconds during processing.”

He understood, knowing not to judge on first reaction, “but now that you have your bowl firmly in hand, what do you think?”

“I think … that … it doesn’t really matter what I think but since I know that’s not the answer you want, I guess … well …” setting bowl on counter instead of flinging it to the floor as she had a minute ago, “dad’s been gone for six years and I think he’d want her to be happy. She smiles at you like she used to at him and that … that’s probably the best thing I’ve seen since he died and it makes me happy to know you want to make her smile like that for the rest of your lives.” Feeling the need to apologize for the ramble, she crossed her arms and turned towards him, giving him that eyebrow Mulder feared and he got a kick out of, “are you going to make her smile like that forever?”

“I’m going to try my best.”

Rocking back and forth on her heels a few times, she gave him a grin, “then I won’t be calling you ‘dad’ but there’s a really good chance Mulder will so prepare yourself.”

“I will.”

Uncrossing arms, she wrapped one around his waist in a half-hug, then pointed towards the dishes still waiting to be washed, “you better get those done, Walter, or she won’t be smiling anymore.”


End file.
